Departmental Papers (ASC)
Title
Violence in Popular U.S. Prime Time TV Dramas and the Cultivation of Fear: A Time Series Analysis
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
6-17-2014
Publication Source
Media and Communication
Volume
2
Issue
2
Start Page
31
Last Page
41
Abstract
Gerbner and Gross’s cultivation theory predicts that prolonged exposure to TV violence creates fear of crime, symptomatic of a mean world syndrome. We tested the theory’s prediction in a time series model with annual changes in violence portrayal on popular US TV shows from 1972 to 2010 as a predictor of changes in public perceptions of local crime rates and fear of crime. We found that contrary to the prediction that TV violence would affect perceptions of crime rates, TV violence directly predicted fear of crime holding constant national crime rates and perceptions of crime rates. National crime rates predicted fear of crime but only as mediated by perceptions of local crime rates. The findings support an interpretation of cultivation theory that TV drama transports viewers into a fictive world that creates fear of crime but without changing perceptions of a mean world.
Copyright/Permission Statement
© 2014 by the authors; licensee Cogitatio (Lisbon, Portugal). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY). See Media and Communication for more information.
Keywords
content analysis, crime, cultivation theory, fear, transportation theory, TV violence
Recommended Citation
Jamieson, P. E., & Romer, D. (2014). Violence in Popular U.S. Prime Time TV Dramas and the Cultivation of Fear: A Time Series Analysis. Media and Communication, 2 (2), 31-41. Retrieved from https://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/349
Date Posted: 18 June 2014
This document has been peer reviewed.